Is Anybody Out There?
by whybot
Summary: Peridot gets a bit more lost than she ends up in canon. She deals with common human issues like the grasshoppers watching her, washing her hair, and wondering exactly how much trouble she's in.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey. This is the first of what will likely be many, many chapters. I don't know what I have in store for this. Maybe madness? Maybe sorrow? Maybe comfort, calmness, humor, horror? No idea. Feel free to leave a review, tell me what I'm doing right, doing wrong, etc. etc.**

Peridot here. Day one of what will hopefully be a short setback.

I understand that failure is, by and large, unacceptable. However, I am optimistic about my later treatment at the hands of Our Dutiful Homeworld, as the mistakes that lead to the destruction of a variety of prototype and cutting-edge tech were, by and large, not my mistakes. Besides, corpses can't testify innocence, so I'm likely in the clear. Likely.

I may be reprimanded, even demoted for my 'cowardice in the line of duty'. What a shame, right? Moving down from 200 workers credits a mission to 150. Oh, dear, then I'll have to take an assessment to prove I'm worthy of the pay grade I had before.

Annoying, but not major. That seems to be the theme of this mission, hm? Why won't people just let me work? Something about this planet makes gems go slightly warm in the head, I think.

Anyways,

I appear to be in a carefully grown and constructed vegetative field, though it seems to have fallen into a bit of disrepair. No matter. It is rather dark, and my sensors are telling me it's more than cold enough to prevent overheating. That's perfectly fine with me. I've heard of some Gems, faced with idleness and a cool temperature, going mad from overthinking. Me? I think it's some Homeworld conspiracy, something some higher-up made up to keep us happy, together, fusing and un-fusing and playing games and pledging allegiance to the 'Savior and Stalwart Vanguard of the War of Crystalline Aggression, Yellow Diamond'. Whatever. The bigger the title you need, the less steps you need to fuse is what I say, hehe.

Thankfully, this message will only be heard by me, myself, and I. Jasper, if she's anywhere near me, would likely break my Silicon Backbone for that and drag me back to Homeworld. Talk about an ego complex, right?

…

It worries me, being outside here. I don't understand how Organic Life can sleep like this. I feel and hear so many different organisms above the microbial level, all of which notice me to some extent. That's worrying, having so many eyes, looking over you, scanning you, seeing what'll make you crack.

I'm giving the traits of esteemed interrogators to insects with only the ability to barely sustain themselves. Maybe I should report to a self-organized execution clinic, my mind, well excellent, is clearly becoming lost.

I suppose I simply don't like being watched. It doesn't help that my surroundings, the remnants of poor human housing, doesn't have a roof. Or sixty percent of the walls. Or a door. It's not even airtight! I don't understand how humanity lives like this, the feeling that you're sharing space with dozens upon dozens of lower lifeforms.

I may not sleep for my first night here. I'll just have to think. Humanity has mastered the art of radio. Perhaps I could use human tech to send a signal over to some of the Signal Bouncers on Ceres? Maybe. I'm putting the Monogranular Semi-Moron before the semi-crystalline based micro foundry.

Besides, intermingling with lower-class lifeforms isn't what I'm going to be busted for anyways, it's the least of my worries if I actually make it back home.

When I make it home. When.

Peridot out. I will check in tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

Peridot here. Day 2.

I despise this place. More than anything.

Typically, a gem such as myself can operate when the sun is out. However, Earths temperature is supremely ill suited for someone such as myself. The lack of humidity is also particularly jarring. I can hear it now in mission command. 'Oh, Peridot, why didn't you act like your polished, superior kindred and acquire heat resistant polish?'

Because I'm not a **_fucking_** field unit!

Excuse my rough-class vocabulary. However, it's true. I am not paid as much as the virtual cavemen such as Jasper, who's about one step above licking her own eyeballs and climbing up tall places to shout out a fusion cry.

And yes, I am angry, I am irrational, because I'm not supposed to be here! This was supposed to be a humbling experience. And I get that, I understand it. 'Go activate the Kindergarten in a literal toilet-world because you mouthed off to a person who has direct conversations with Our Great Lord and Protector, Yellow Diamond!'

I'm sorry, I didn't know 'having direct conversations with' meant 'fusing behind closed doors to get her _**job**_!'

Am I _**humbled**_ enough, Chalcedony? Am I? I woke up to a family of loud, buzzing insects nesting near my Gem!

...

I want off this rock. I'm scared. I can't properly rest in fear of biological matter interfering with my joints, my optics, my hands...

And I don't trust the body of water nearby. For all I know, Lapis and those, those... cultists have already gotten Jasper and are just prowling around, watching and waiting for me to slip up. I'm smarter than them, I know their games. I'll start setting up my additional flask robonoids for surveillance. They're the last few I have, and I don't really think this field possesses a reservoir of ferrofluid that's required to make more.

...

I wonder... Those Crystal Gems, there's something about them that's... Odd. What do they have that I don't that enables them to live so, so comfortably?

Are there any Crystal Gems? I must sound like one of those people that think Yellow Diamond was Rose Quartz herself, aheh.

But honestly, maybe there's something here on Earth, that's, that's using the shells of Gems as its own vehicle. Maybe underneath the Crystal Gems is some sort of mold, or moss, or rot... Something organic wearing gems like a suit. Maybe that explains it. However... Pearl, she's intelligent, I noticed patterns in my History class. Behind every major victory for the Crystal Gems, rarely behind any major failure. At least, she seemed to be so. She also seems to act like an actual, well, Gem. She could've been an excellent soldier, maybe an ally. I like to think, in a better world, we could've been acquaintances. She's smart for a combat unit, I'd adore having her instead of the absolute Brick I've received.

However... Maybe she instigated the change, some sort of... Modification to her allies to enable them to act in this intense, awful heat. Maybe she has something I don't, maybe she can make the proper protective fluid...

Maybe the heat is steadily destroying the fiber optic nerves inside my thick skull.

I'm going to try and rest, and see what I can do about this... Organic life problem.

 **Chapter two! Sorry for the delay, friends. I just got back home, so I'm just maxin' and chillaxin'. A three day trip across the US is going to drain you dry, man. I'll try and be a bit more regular with some more stuff. Or I could become less consistent. It's a mystery.**


	3. Chapter 3

Peridot here. Day seven.

Against my better judgement, I have decided to bathe in the pool nearby my hopefully temporary domicile.

While the water has soaked my hair, and has caused it to wilt rather comically and impede my vision, this is far more preferable to the constant feeling of dirt, and mud, and microorganisms that had covered me before. My skin crawls at the thought of it. Every other day I think will be enough to keep my body from shutting down due to foreign contaminants. I'd rather not go the way Obsidian did. Dear friend of mine, had joint lock happen to her on a desert world, couldn't move. Took Homeworld... Six years. Six years to find her. By then, she didn't even want to be conscious anymore.

I've been gifted with a method of cleaning myself. Hopefully, that shouldn't happen to me. Six years...

Perhaps the Crystal Gems aren't looking for me. I wish I could say that with some sort of satisfaction, but it honestly worries me more than anything else. Homeworld doesn't know where I am, and likely will take a while. I know how they look, this place will be the last spot on their list. The Crystal Gems, as much as they'd likely beat me senseless, would present a welcome change. Maybe I'd be able to have some decent conversation with them. As it stands, I've been looking over my Robonoids, day and night. If one happens to pop, that's an entire quarter of my vision. They are my eyes. And to think I had been so wasteful with them...

Speaking of eyes, I've noticed some variety of organism peering out through the crops. Initially, I assumed it was simply the stars, or, given the range of motion, some sort of crude human satellite. However, satellites do not cause the crops to rustle, or blink. Whatever this thing is, I will assume that it is not harmful. I was at my weakest on day six, its presence being noted to me on day four. Earth predators typically strike when they see weakness, after all. However, that's simply from what I've learned during the mission briefing I half slept through, this one being potentially being an exception.

Thankfully, I possess no organic matter on my person. If it decides to attack me, it will find there's nothing to eat, exactly. Maybe it'll leave me alone then?

Great, I'm waiting to be eaten. But hey, what else can I do? It's not like I have any weapons. No, that would require Chalcedony to have something resembling 'thought' to her actions, and we certainly can't have that, can we?

If... When I get out of here, I'm sending in a Class C complaint against her. Every single thing about this has been her fault, and her fault only. It probably won't do anything, but it sure as hell will make me feel better.

Peridot out. I'll check in whenever something interesting happens. I'm steadily starting to believe the whole, 'you'll go mad from thinking too much', thing. Oh well, I suppose I have a companion, at least.

 **Woo! Chapter three. Now, exactly none of you have been asking, 'what kind of music makes you write such a mediocre fucking story, whybot?', but I'll answer that question regardless. This chapter, and later chapters in planning, have been influenced by works such as Mush-Room by the Residents, And, Geogaddi by Boards of Canada. Eerie, spooky, ambient, synthetic yet natural sounding, they're pretty strongly recommended by me, myself, and I.  
**

 **Please, like the fanfiction if you've enjoyed it, follow the fanfiction if you'd like to see more of it, leave a review if there's something I could improve on, and, of course, link to your friends if you think they would like this fanfiction.**


	4. Chapter 4

Peridot reporting in. Day... Seventy two?

I've lost track. Been busy. Lot of work to do.

I no longer possess anything resembling a home. I tore down what was left, apparently.

I don't know what I was doing. The heat is getting to me.

Sometimes it feels like I blink and it's night, and I'm in a completely different spot. It's disconcerting, but I've dealt with worse.

I've chosen to only operate during the night. I don't know what I'm doing in the day, but I have to find some sort of shelter if I want to work in the day. As it stands right now, my processor is likely unable to deal with the higher temperatures thanks to the crash. If I had the proper tools to repair it, it would be no issue. However, particle build-up in my extenders has removed most of any non-combat ability I have.

We are not meant to survive, not like the carbon-life here. We either thrive or break down, no middle-ground.

It's... Strange, really. Living and being surrounded in an area that rejects you. Sometimes I see faces in the rocks, or breath in the grains of dirt and sand that blow through here. I'd imagine it'd be similar to humanity being approached by a less-primitive ancestor, and realizing that they are not evolved.

That's the thing about evolution, hmm? We don't become better through evolving. That's a hopelessly naive notion. Many gems hold this sort of idea that they are superior beings, superior creatures. The truth is, they are not superior. They are highly evolved.

They have found their niche, and adapted supremely well to it. We live in cool areas, and we know how to make areas cool. We have built ways to tame the environment and make it like our homeworld. We have not become less vulnerable to inhospitable climates. Rather, we have learned to change the inhospitable climates. Make them hospitable.

But, as I stand here, on a cliff face looking down at the stream beds in an attempt to determine which one would take me to the Crystal Gems dwelling, without any tools to navigate with, without any way to live comfortably, I know precisely how naive that idea is.

We are weak on our own. We have nothing but our minds. Our minds are our only advantage.

Well, let's see if it's a good advantage, hmm?

Peridot, reporting out.


	5. Chapter 5

Peridot reporting in. Day… I don't know what day it is. The silence is overbearing.

For a while, it used to be so… Loud. Small creatures humming, buzzing about, the wind hissing as it blew through the vegetation, now, I feel almost deaf to it. It feels like I've… Gotten used to it. I guess I could count that as a blessing, but ultimately it just feels slightly violating.

I don't want to be used to this rock! The very concept that, that this backwater slagheap is getting to me, is making its mark on me, it's terrifying. What's going to separate me from them? Here I am, stranded on a planet, my tech very much nonfunctional at best, trying to cope with the fact that almost everything here is alive, or has some form of life on it! I've gotten to the point where I've disabled my optical sensors.

For a while, I thought that Earth was glowing, I figured that bioluminescence was the case, but, as it turns out, that was merely my detector for non-silicon-based life showing… Everything. Now, the vegetation, which previously almost burned to look at, is just… It's just green. Vegetation. Flora. Fauna. Lifeforms so primitive and archaic, inefficient in the way they process energy. How did the Gems let them live?

Inefficient, irrational. But still alive, not extinct. I've read the tests, pored over every detail of every thesis developed back during our early colonial period, back when carbon-life was still somewhat around in Homeworld-space. Creatures much powerful, much stronger than anything on earth, creatures that were craftier, better adapted, all were wiped out before or after Gem contact. What makes Earth special? Most of the time, we didn't even need to send in ground troops or shock-Pearls, as whatever sentient life that could pose a threat, or resistance, merely wiped itself out over a few thousand years. What makes me sick, what worries me, is that the usual waiting period probably wouldn't do anything to earth.

Judging by the patterns of erosion in the rock formations, small traces, footprints of long-dead creatures, life has been around here for hundreds of thousands of years, just as strongly as it is today, regardless of carbon-organisms ridiculously small lifespan.

It's almost like those bizarre fiction tales that new Gems read, in order to process morals in a simplistic, abstracted way. 'Growing, expanding, refusing to die, read on in horror as Carbon-life seems to grow across even the Dataslate!'

Haha, ah, I miss those. I'm glad I have my recorder at least. Hearing my own voice keeps me sane, for a certain definition of the word, at least. Anyways, I must keep walking. As I've oriented myself properly using maps I've downloaded off the ship, I have to keep walking to the last known location of the Crystal Gems. It'll be slow, but, I'll be there eventually, and then I'll…

I don't know. They might… I…

Hmm. I do have a plan. Not sure what it is, yet, but plans do take time.

Peridot, signing out.


End file.
